City News & Updates

City of Lancaster Council Members Show Their Support for Inaugural MC3 Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program Graduating Cohort

Post Date:02/02/2018 4:30 PM

This afternoon, City of Lancaster Vice Mayor Marvin Crist was joined by City Council Members Raj Malhi and Angela Underwood-Jacobs in celebrating the first cohort to graduate from the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program for the Antelope Valley Building and Construction Trades. The graduation ceremony was held at the Antelope Valley College Palmdale campus.

“The City of Lancaster is extremely proud to be a part of today’s ceremony. It is through partnerships with IBEW/NECA Local 11, and the building trades, that programs like this are now available to residents of the Antelope Valley,” said Vice Mayor Marvin Crist. “This program provides its students with skills that will help ensure they find well-paying jobs, with good benefits.”

The MC3 Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program is brought to Antelope Valley residents via a partnership between Antelope Valley College and the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building & Construction Trades Council and is supported by various trade locals such as IBEW Local Union 11. The program is funded by California Apprenticeship Initiative grants, which allow residents to enroll in the program at no cost.

“Programs like this MC3 program just make good business sense,” said Lancaster City Council Member Raj Malhi. “Upon completion of their apprenticeship, these students will have careers right here in the Antelope Valley. This program is building an even stronger workforce here at home, while further invigorating our local economy.”

The program provides students with an eight-week curriculum, during which time they explore a number of trades from plumbing and masonry, to carpentry and sheet metal work. By the end of the program students have competed CPR training, received OSHA certification, and are given a nationally recognized certificate of completion. The program seeks to help veterans, at risk youth, non-college bound youth, and others discover their preferred trade and send them up the path to apprenticeship within that field and ultimately employment.

“It is wonderful to see so many students taking advantage of this program,” said Lancaster City Council Member Angela Underwood-Jacobs. “This training not only helps provide future jobs for these students, but prepares them to better provide for their families – helping to ensure a higher quality of life.”

"We are delighted to be graduating the first cohort of participants through our local pre-apprenticeship program for the building and construction trades,” said Cathy Hart, Dean, Palmdale Center and Extended Learning/Corporate & Community Services. “Antelope Valley College is committed to helping meet the growing need for apprentices in the construction industry. This program creates a pathway to those apprenticeship programs, as well as to additional career technical education, leading to lifelong careers with good wages and benefits.”

New cohorts are forming for spring, summer, and fall of 2018, with the next cohort launching February 12. For more information regarding this program or to schedule an assessment, contact Suggey Galdamez at (661) 298-0152, or by email at sgaldamez@goodwillsocal.org.